About
Actor, film and documentary maker, former Chief Scout and two time Blue Peter man.
Peter has a TV, film and theatre career that spans five decades. A self confessed adventurer he is never happier than when in the thick of it such as making his own online panto films or walking the tightrope in his one man show.
He is perhaps best known for his daredevil approach to life when he first joined the Blue Peter team in 1980. He wore his action man label easily, running in the first London Marathon in just over three hours (his last one in 2021 was much slower).
He fought a sumo wrestler in Japan, cleaned the clock face of Big Ben and wore his green and white check suit whenever he could.
In 1985 he went on to make Duncan Dares, a series that played on his adventurous image with stunts such driving across the Irish Sea in a VW Beetle, acting as James Bond’s stuntman and driving in the French Grand Prix as a formula 1 Truck driver. In 1993 he was part of a team that drove Overland to America driving through Russia.
In 2001 he produced a six part series called Travel Bug for the BBC in which he, his partner Annie and their four children backpacked their way around the world. In the two follow up series their adventure travels were seen in Chinese Breakaway and Arthur’s trip to India. Other TV credits include the 26 part slapstick comedy series Demolition Dad he produced for Five, Channel 4’s The Games and Celebrity Total Wipeout (losing the final by just one second). He also competed in Tumble, BBC’s primetime live acrobatic show.
Peter began his career on stage playing Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island and then joining Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre and spent the 70’s working exclusively as actor. He became a well known face on TV where his work included Play for Today, Sons and Lovers, Renoir My Father, Warship, Fathers and Families, Sam, Fallen Hero, Survivors, King Cinder, Oranges and Lemons, The Flockton Flyer and Space 1999. His feature film credits include Stardust, Quilp, The Lifetaker and a famous cameo in Flash Gordon when was he killed by a tree monster.
After his Blue Peter days he began to appear in musical theatre roles such as Barnum, Bill Snibson in Me and my Girl and as Charlie Chaplin in The Little Tramp. In 1995 he was nominated for an Olivier award as Best Actor in a musical playing Denry Machin in The Card. His other theatre work includes Alan Ayckbourn‘s Things we do for love, Stan Laurel in a production of Laurel and Hardy and in a season at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park playing Macduff in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Fantastic Mr Fox. In 2013 he took on the role of Charlie Peace, the Victorian criminal at Nottingham Playhouse and has toured in Birdsong playing Jack Firebrace and as Wilbur in Hairspray.
Peter has had a long association with Pantomime, following in his parent’s footsteps and has written, cast and directed stage productions at Oxford Playhouse, Lighthouse Poole, Wimbledon Theatre and the Everyman Cheltenham. He sometimes appears in panto too playing the hero, the funnyman, the baddie more recently The Dame in his own pantomime films in the cinemas or streamed to schools or families at home. See pantoonline.co.uk
He is a patron of British Youth Music Theatre, an Ambassador for Se-ed (Sustainability and Enviromental Education) and a supporter of ACA (Action for Children’s Arts). He possesses a Gold Blue Peter badge awarded for his volunteer work as leader and Chief Scout of the UK’s half a million scouts from 2005 to 2009.